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education for all children of the age of 6 to 14 years a fundamental right.

For the success of democratic system of Government, education is one of the basic elements.

Education gives a person human dignity & develops himself & contributes to the development of the

country. The makers of the constitution realising the importance of education have imposed a duty on the state under Article 45 as one of the directive principle of State policy to provide free & compulsory

education to all children between the age of 6 to 14 years. The Supreme Court during 1993 in

Unnikrishnan Case declared that right to education for the children of the age 6 to 14 is a fundamental

right. Even after this, there was no improvement, but the Government enacted constitution (86th

Amendment) Act, 2002 which would make education a Fundamental Right.

The question arises as to how this right would be implemented since the population of the

country has considerably increased & the number of Children of age from 6 to 14 years are in crores.

Article 24 :No Child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or

engaged in any other hazardous employment.

This Article prohibits employment of children below 14 years of age in factories & hazardous

The term ‗Backward classes‘ has not been defined in the constitution. The preamble to the constitution

declares that it secures to all its citizens Justice, Social, Economic & Political. In the light of

Distributive Justice Article 14 guarantees Equality before law or equal protection of laws for all.

Article 15 prohibits discrimination on various grounds. Article 16 ensures equality in public

employment. The ingredient of ‗Socialism‘ finds its place in the system of reservation & safeguards

that the state may introduce to uplift the weaker sections or backward classes of the society. Now the

question arises as to who can be considered as ―backward􀀀 & what criteria should be adopted to

determine it. As already mentioned the term ―Backward Classes􀀀 has not been defined in the

constitution, but the same term is used in Article 340 which provides the President may by order

appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of ―Backward Classes􀀀 within the territory of

India. The commission so appointed may in its report suggest, among others, steps that should be taken

to improve their conditions. But even here the definition of the term is not furnished. Therefore, the

State must have a clear idea as to who actually constitute Backward Classes. It is necessary to know thecriteria or factors which have to be taken into consideration to determine Backward Classes for the

effective utilization of reservation benefits depends much upon the clear determination of the said

classes of citizens for whose benefit & uplift they have been incorporated into the constitution.

The Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (SC & ST) being mentioned with the ‗Backward Classes‘ in

matters of reservation refers to classes persons other than the members of the Scheduled Castes &

Tribes. Article 341 & 341 of the constitution which provides that the President has been expressly

authorized to limit the notification to parts or groups of castes within the castes.

It is clear, therefore, that President‘s order shall specify the list of castes included in this category &

any other caste may be included in it if sufficient evidence is produced in its favor. But the presidential

notification is not open to judicial scrutiny. A person belonging to Scheduled Caste must be either a

Hindu or a Sikh. Thus, the reservation privilege is not available to the Christians, Muslims, Buddhists,

Parsis etc.

BACKWARD CLASS COMMISSIONS :

The prescribed of India, acting under Article 340 of the Constitution appointed the following

Backward Class commissions.

1. Kaka Saheb Kalelkar commission 1953.

2. Dr. Naganna Gowda committee 1960 (Mysore).

3. Kumara Pillai Commission 1964 (Kerala).

4. Sattanathan commission 1969 (Tamil Nadu).

5. Damodaran Commission 1967 (Kerala).

6. Mandal commission 1978.

SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR ADVANCEMENT OF BACKWARD CLASSES.

PROTECTIVE DISCRIMINATION :-

Articles 14 to 16 of the Constitution guarantee the right to equality to every citizen of India. Article 14

embodies the general principles of equality expressed in the preamble. Articles 15 & 16 laid down

specific application of the General Rules laid down in Article 14.

Article 14: ―The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or equal protection of laws

within the territory of India.􀀀

The concept of equality doesn‘t mean absolute equality among human beings, which is physically not

possible to achieve. It is a concept implying absence of any special privilege by reason of birth, creed

or the like in favour of any individual & also the equal subject of all individuals & classes to the

ordinary law of the land. The Concept Equality before the Law derived from English Rule of Law.

Equality before the law means like should be treated alike. Among equals the law should be equal &

should be equally administered. The protection of Article 14 extends both citizens & non-citizens & to

natural persons as well as legal persons.

ARTICLE 14 PERMITS REASONABLE CLASSIFICATION:

The classification however must not be ‗arbitrary, artificial or evasive but must be based on

some real & substantial distinction bearing a just & reasonable relation to the object sought to be

achieved by the legislation.

TEST OF REASONABLE CLASSIFICATION:

Classification to be reasonable must fulfill the following two conditions:-

The classification must be founded on an intelligible which distinguishes persons or things that are

grouped together from others left out of the group.

The differentia must have a rational relation to the object sought to be achieved by the Act.

ARTICLE 15 : The guarantee under Article 15 is available to citizens only & not to every person

whether ‗Citizen or non-citizen as under Article 14, Article 15(1) direct the State not to discriminate

against a citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth or any of them. Article

15(2) prohibits both state & private individual, on the grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place

of birth or any of them with regard to (a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels & places public

entertainment, or (b) the use of wells, tanks, baths, roads & places of public resort. The object of Art

15(2) is to eradicate the social evils of caste system.ARTICLE 15 (3) : SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN :

Which we have already discussed in the earlier discussion, which is an exception to Article 15(1) &

(2).

RESERVATIONS IN MATTERS OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT :

Article 16 :

There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment

to any office under the State.

No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any

of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of nay employment or office under the

state.

Article 16 is an instance of the application of the general rule of equality before law laid down in

Article 14 and of the prohibition of discrimination in Article 15(1) with respect to the opportunity for

employment or appointment to any officer under the state.

Article 16(3) is an exception to clause (2) of this Article which forbids discrimination on the ground of

Residence. This Article empowers parliament to regulate by the law the extent to which it would be

permissible for a state to depart from the above principle. It provides that no one will be disqualified on

the ground one is not the resident of a particular state.

Article 16(4) is the second exception to the general rule embodied in Articles 16(1) & (2). It empowers

the State to make special provision for the reservation of appointments of posts in favour of any

backward class of citizens. Article 16 (4) applies only if two conditions are satisfied.

EMERGENCY PROVISIONS

The President can declare three types of emergencies:

1. National emergency

2. State emergency

3. Financial emergency

NATIONAL EMERGENCY UNDER ARTICLE 352

National emergency is caused by war, external aggression or armed rebellion in the whole of India or a

part of its territory. Such an emergency was declared in India in 1962 (Indo-China war), 1971 (IndoPakistan

war), and 1975 (declared by Indira Gandhi to maintain law and order in the country). The

President can declare such an emergency only on the basis of a written request by the Council of

Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. Such a proclamation must be approved by the Parliament

within one month. Such an emergency can be imposed for six months. It can be extended by six

months by repeated parliamentary approval.

In such an emergency, Fundamental Rights of Indian citizens can be suspended. The six freedoms

under Right to Freedom are automatically suspended. However, the Right to Life and Personal Liberty

cannot be suspended according to the original Constitution. It modifies the federal system of

government to a unitary one.

In January 1977 however, during the emergency declared controversially by Indira Gandhi, the

government decided to suspend even the Right to Life and Personal Liberty by dispensing with Habeas

corpus. Chief Justice Hans Raj Khanna defended the Right to Life and asked: "Life is also mentioned

in Article 21 and would Government argument extend to it also?". The Attorney General observed:

"Even if life was taken away illegally, courts are helpless.

The Parliament can make laws on the 66 subjects of the State List (which contains subjects on which

the state governments can make laws). Also, all money bills are referred to the Parliament for its

approval. The term of the Lok Sabha can be extended by a period of one year but not more than six

months from the date when the emergency has ceased to exist.

STATE EMERGENCY UNDER ARTICLE 356

State emergency is declared on failure of constitutional machinery in a state. Nearly every state in India

has been under a state of emergency at some point of time or the other. The state of emergency is

commonly known as 'President's Rule'If the President is satisfied, on the basis of the report of the Governor of the concerned state or from

other sources that the governance in a state cannot be carried out according to the provisions in the

Constitution, he can declare emergency in the state. Such an emergency must be approved by the

Parliament within a period of two months.

It is imposed for six months and can last for a maximum period of three years with repeated

parliamentary approval every six months. If the emergency has to be extended for more than three

years, it can be done by a constitutional amendment, as has happened in Punjab and Jammu and

Kashmir.

During such an emergency, the President can take over the entire work of the executive, and the

Governor administers the state in the name of the President. the Legislative Assembly can be dissolved

or may remain in suspended animation. The Parliament makes laws on the 66 subjects of the state list

(see National emergency for explanation). All money bills have to be referred to the Parliament for

approval. In this situation ministers of state legislature are not allowed to perform action in state.

FINANCIAL EMERGENCY UNDER ARTICLE 360

If the President is satisfied that there is an economic situation in which the financial stability or credit

of India is threatened, he or she can declare financial emergency. Such an emergency must be

approved by the Parliament within two months. It has never been declared. Such a situation had arisen

but was avoided by selling off of the gold assets of India

It remains enforced till the President revokes it.

In case of a financial emergency, the President can reduce the salaries of all government officials,

including judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts. All money bills passed by the State

legislatures are submitted to the President for his approval. He can direct the state to observe certain

principles (economy measures) relating to financial matters.

The phrase Emergency period used loosely, when referring to the political history of India, often refers